Bombay High Court decrees rummy is not gambling

Bombay High Court has ruled that rummy cannot be construed or defined as gambling, after a businessman filed a petition to reverse the charges against him.

According to the Times of India, reputed businessman Gajendra Kedia, the owner of an ice factory in the city of Amravati in Maharashtra, was last year charged for renting out his facility to the Shivleela Sporting and Social Club in order to promote games such as chess, hockey, football, card games and rummy.

Despite claiming to have sought permission from the Amravati police commissioner, the club was raided in May 2016 by police officers accusing 28 people of indulging in illegal activities under the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887.

All the members were physically searched and the money in their wallets was also seized on the supposition that they were indulging in gambling.

A year on however, the Bombay High Court has rejected the claims against Kedia.

“It simply states that they were playing cards with money and those were seized. It appears that the respondents filed FIR on assumptions and presumptions that the petitioner was running a common gaming house, but there was nothing to show,” the court said.

“(The) petitioner is one of the members of the recreational club and it’s his contention that they were playing rummy. (The) game of rummy is not gambling.”